Recipe Find: Old McCall's recipe gone, but not forgotten

Updated 3:49 am, Sunday, March 4, 2012

Marsha Golden wanted to recreate a dish she remembered from her early marriage and needed Recipe Find's help coming up with it.

As she explained it, the Eggs Mornay recipe was from McCall's — “not the magazine that was published every month,” she says. “I had a group of recipe cards that were from McCall's that I got when I was married in 1971. I liked all the recipes I tried, but the one I (am looking for) is for eggs that are partly cooked, covered with cheese and baked in tomato sauce.”

She had gotten rid of the cards in a move to San Antonio and now regretted losing that recipe.

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As Golden described the recipe, the eggs weren't cracked into the sauce, but rather were soft-boiled, shelled and put in the sauce to finish cooking. This took some searching, but it helped that when Golden said “recipe cards,” I knew she was talking about either McCall's Great American Recipe Card collection that came housed in a storage box or McCall's Cooking School Recipe Cards that were kept in a three-ring binder. My online search shows that this recipe ran in Volume 2 of McCall's Cooking School recipe binder. The page inserts were sent by mail each month (called Recipage, a cross between a recipe card and a book page, according to brandnamecooking.com).

For younger readers not familiar with McCall's, this was a popular women's magazine that started in the 1890s. It was published more than a century; in 2001, it was renamed Rosie before stopping publication in 2002.

We found this recipe on lynnescountrykitchen.net where the author had this recipe as part of a McCall's collection she'd been assembling for years. The website noted that “This recipe for Eggs Mornay with Fresh Tomato Sauce is perfect for a special weekend brunch. Soft-cooked eggs wrapped in Swiss cheese are placed in individual ramekins on top of fresh tomato sauce and broiled until the cheese melts. Although you may think this recipe is complex, it's not, if you are organized.

“Make the tomato sauce and the soft-cooked eggs ahead of time. About one hour before serving you can wrap eggs in cheese and assemble the ramekins. Just before serving, place under the broiler to reheat. Don't forget to toast the bread.”

More Information

Recipe Find appears Sundays in Taste. If you are looking for a lost recipe or have a favorite recipe to share, let us hear from you. Email kharam@ express-news.net or write Recipe Find, San Antonio Express-News, P.O. Box 2171, San Antonio, TX 78297-2171. Recipe requests will be answered in this column only; due to time limitations, no personal replies can be given.